Waiting on a mule deer crossing…
The Red naped sapsucker (Sphyrapicus nuchalis) is considered a double keystone species. The first method is by creating nesting cavities that other species are unable to replicate, so when the cavities are abandoned, that community of species is able to utilize the space for their own reproductive site. The second method is by creating sap well sites that a different select group of species makes use of by visiting the wells and robbing the sap that is exuded. Here in the East River Valley, I reassesed the claim of S. nuchalis being a double keystone species by performing an observational study (in-person and using motion-activated cameras) of the visitors to the sap wells. I identified eight species (birds, insects, rodents) that fed from the sap wells, measured frequency of visits, quality of the sap, sapsucker behaviors. I detected a reduction in population numbers of sapsuckers and warblers but not of hummingbirds using 20 years of data from Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory Breeding Bird survey. I compared my results to Gretchen Daily and Paul Ehrlich’s study conducted in 1987 and reevaluated the claim that Sphyrapicus nuchalis is a double keystone species. Low visitation by saprobbers suggests that wells are only used opportunistically and sap feeders are not dependent on this resource to the extent that the sapsuckers are key to their abundance.
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